Shadowboxing rounds are solo episodes where I, Life-Sparring host Fabian Gruber share "What's On and Poppin" in my life, what current books provide "Food for Thought," and what else is going on. There are no interviews, just a bit of solo rambling and occasionally some awful singing.

This episode is somewhat of a comeback after an almost four-month podcasting hiatus. As it looks, a lot changed, and in the meantime, we entered a new world order.
My thoughts on the state of the world and how to deal with such a historic inflection point are the show's main topic. Even the books reviewed in the "Food for Thought" segment fit the theme.

This is probably a bit of a heavier solo round; let me know if you liked it.

For more information visit Life-Sparring.com/podcast

For the last three years, working out during my lunch break with a personal trainer has been one of the few affordable luxuries in my life. Since the summer of last year, I have trained twice per week with Aiko Liu, also known as " Little Hulk, " in Hong Kong Bodybuilding circles and by his 10k followers on Instagram.

Aiko has been successfully competing in the amateur bodybuilding circuit in Hong Kong and beyond for the past five years and is working as a coach with several other competitive athletes. In addition to competing as an athlete and working as a personal trainer, Aiko has been an investor in gyms in Hong Kong.

Reason enough to take the Life-Sparring Podcast out of the comfort of my home studio and meet Aiko in his brand-new Vision PT gym, in Shatin Hong Kong, to talk about bodybuilding, gym economics, steroids, and workout and diet routines.

Let's kick this year off strong and do what people usually do in January, going to the gym.

More info and all links to Aiko's Social Media profiles in the Show Notes on Life-Sparring.com.

Before I started podcasting and Food for Thought became a regular book review segment in the shadowboxing solo podcasts, it was the title of an annual blog post introducing my top five books I read in the outgoing year.

I just published this year’s Food for Thought blog; it is the seventh consecutive year. But since 2021 was the year of the Life-Sparring podcast, it felt unavoidable not to record a Food for Thought Podcast special.

To make the best of the audio/video format and to spice things a bit up, I invited a guest for this round, Hong Kong-based executive coach and friend of the show, David Siu. Together we discuss each of our top three books of the year and more generally about reading and life.

Books we are covering in the show:
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics, by Tim Marshall
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, by Scott McCloud
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell, by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Alan Eagle

For more details and links to all books, head over to Life-Sparring.com/podcast